Suspended Te Pāti Māori MPs To Embark On National Tour

Saturday, 7 June 2025, 4:48 pm
Article: RNZ

Giles Dexter, Political Reporter

Te Pāti Māori says it will continue to stand its ground as three MPs begin their record suspensions.

On Thursday night, Parliament dealt its harshest ever punishment by suspending co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for 21 days, and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven.

The trio were sanctioned for their actions during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill in November.

Parliament's privileges committee deemed the haka the MPs performed could have "intimidated" others. Government parties supported the recommended suspension. Labour agreed they should face some sanction, but disagreed with the length of time the committee had landed on.

Speaking to media after their suspension was handed down, the MPs said they planned to use their time away from the House to organise.

"We're going to go home and show that we stood our ground," Ngarewa-Packer said.

The party now has the Regulatory Standards Bill in its sights, and will use its time away to encourage supporters to make submissions against it.

Party president John Tamihere told Midday Report the party was feeling "very chipper" and the co-leaders would embark on a national tour.

"What we've got to do is just get out on our streets, in all our pā up and down the country, activate, organise and that's where we're going now."

Accusing Parliament of being a "very unhealthy place" for Māori, Tamihere said the MPs would apologise once it was made clear what they would be apologising for.

"If you're saying we should apologise for bringing the tikanga that displays our reo, which is the haka, into the House... see, we're not here to just appear for tourists. We're not here to start a rugby game, you know?

"We are here to display and practice who we are and what we are. We do that 24/7, and we don't do it because somebody says, 'No, when you walk in that Parliament you've got to stop being a Māori,' for goodness sake."

Waititi said there were "many tools in the tikanga basket" when it came to opposing further legislation.

"It will be deemed, and probably sanctioned, by tipuna who guide us in our wairua, in our ngākau, and the people who guide us outside. They sent us in to be the unapologetic Māori voice. Māori voice means that everything that we have in our kete kōrero will be used."

He said Thursday's debate got "pretty ugly and sad", referencing Winston Peters' "scribble" jab at his mataora.

"I would be ashamed," Waititi said. "If I was his mokopuna, to look over those clips and to hear him denigrate not only something that was handed down by his ancestors, but also him as a future ancestor the legacy he will leave for his tamariki-mokopuna. I'm saddened by that, but also I feel ashamed that his family have to wear that legacy."

Peters agreed the debate was sad, though for different reasons - telling Morning Report Te Pāti Māori's behaviour was unprecedented and unforgivable.

Disappointed by inevitable - former leader

Te Ururoa Flavell, Te Pāti Māori co-leader from 2013 to 2018, said he was disappointed at the outcome, but it was inevitable.

"Māori and haka, that is part of who we are and what we do, as an expression of a message. No different to giving a speech in the House and pointing the finger at people. You sort of think, where's the consistency here?" he asked.

"Our people understand the protocols that go with various places. Our marae are run by tikanga and protocols about what you can and can't do. And we also know that there are consequences of actions, both for better or for worse.

"That's never an issue - the issue here is when you line it all up, you'd say that the three MPs were dealt with very, very harshly and unfairly."

Flavell said Parliament had come a long way from the days where MPs could not speak te reo in the House, but even that was hard fought for. He said Parliament allowed waiata and even Christmas carols, despite not being in the rules, but with an acceptance they were in the spirit of the occasion.

"Really, can we get to a point in time to accept that Māori are tangata whenua of this land? Can we not get to a time and have a conversation about actually accepting that kaupapa Māori is okay in this land and in the halls of Parliament, for goodness sake, and to allow it to happen on appropriate occasions?"

Flavell said a debate about tikanga in the House was long overdue, but said any debate must run alongside education.

"I hope that we learn from the history and allow the debate to happen, but let's do it fairly, not in the sense of allowing every party to have their vehicle. That will move nothing, it will not move the dial, and we saw that yesterday, but allow actually, a debate to inform.

"Hopefully, the committee that's digging into the whole issue of the Treaty of Waitangi will raise some of those issues. But let's have the debate. Let's allow a discussion on kaupapa Māori within the halls of Parliament, and that, I believe, will go a long way to settle some of these grievances that will not only have come up in the past, but are likely to come up in the future."

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